Amid Hat Yai Floods, Jet-Ski Champion Saves Starving Mother and Newborn
A newborn, a mother weakened by days without food, and a former world jet-ski champion have become the latest symbols of Southern Thailand’s annual struggle with rising water. Their midnight dash through the swollen Khlong U-Tapao in Hat Yai ended safely, but only after a stalled engine, drifting debris, and what the rescuer describes as a moment of prayer.
Unfolding drama on swollen waterways
Torrential rain has lashed Songkhla province for a week, pushing flood levels above one meter in many low-lying streets. In the pre-dawn hours, word spread that a woman in the heavily inundated Ban Phru community had just given birth in her stilt house. Supahlak Ninnopparat—better known to motorsport fans as a former world champion in the Pro Sport category—was already patrolling on her personal watercraft when volunteers flagged her down. She found the new mother pale from blood loss, the infant still wrapped in improvised cloth, and the family unable to navigate the thigh-deep current that cut off every road.
From podiums to rescue lines
Supahlak’s résumé includes multiple gold medals at the Jet Ski World Cup in Pattaya, but in recent years she has devoted off-season months to disaster relief. During the massive Southern floods of 2021 she ferried stranded residents and pets; in 2024 she completed a Red Cross course in emergency obstetrics. Those skills proved critical on this latest ride, when she lashed the mother to her waist with a cotton rope normally used to secure fuel cans during competitions. "Speed trophies don’t mean much when you’re steering for two new lives," she later told reporters.
Engine failure in mid-current
Rough water kicked up debris that wound a flapping canvas sheet into the jet-ski’s intake grate, choking the engine. Smoke billowed, the craft drifted toward the concrete pylons of Saphan Soi 3, and volunteers on shore braced for a collision. Supahlak says she cut the throttle, whispered a brief prayer, and tried again. The motor coughed, then surged; at the same moment the tangled canvas snapped free. Witnesses cheered as the jet-ski regained steerage and glided past the bridge.
Health stakes for mother and child
Local medics say the mother had eaten nothing for at least 72 hours, a common scenario when households become marooned and supplies run out. Postpartum haemorrhage remains a leading cause of maternal death in rural Thailand, especially during floods that delay hospital access. Doctors at Hat Yai Hospital confirm both patients are now stable, though the infant will remain in neonatal care for infection monitoring. Social-media donations have already covered their medical bills.
Why Southern floods keep returning
Geographers note that Hat Yai lies in a natural bowl between the Titiwangsa Range and the Songkhla Lake basin. When the monsoon stalls, rainwater from three provinces funnels into the Khlong U-Tapao faster than the canal network can drain it. City engineers completed a new diversion tunnel in 2023, yet extreme rainfall events—up 14% over the past decade, according to the Thai Meteorological Department—continue to overwhelm defenses. Urban planners are debating whether stricter zoning or additional retention ponds would yield better results.
A community rallying point
Supahlak downplays talk of heroism, insisting that dozens of unnamed neighbors played roles, from lending dry baby clothes to guiding her through back-alley currents. Still, the video has racked up more than four million views, prompting the Interior Ministry to highlight the episode as proof that community-led first response can save lives while official teams navigate blocked roads. Observers say the coverage may also boost the still-small volunteer water-rescue network in Southern provinces.
Looking ahead
Weather forecasters expect showers to ease within two days, but runoff from Satun and Yala will keep Hat Yai’s canals high into next week. Provincial officials have asked Bangkok for additional amphibious ambulances, while the local Chamber of Commerce is coordinating free meals for flood-hit households. As for Supahlak, she plans to resume patrol within 24 hours. "The river doesn’t rest," she said, cradling the helmet that carried mother and child to safety, "and neither can we until every family is clear."